Cottonwood Pass (

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

) is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

on the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

in south-central

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

of the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

. It is located along the border of Gunnison and Chaffee counties in Colorado, and is in the

Sawatch Range The Sawatch Range or Saguache RangeThe place name "Saguache” is pronounced “Sawatch” . This name derives from the Ute language noun "''sawup''" meaning "sand dunes" and is spelled using the Spanish language version of this name "Saguach ...

. The road over Cottonwood Pass is the highest paved crossing of the Continental Divide in the U.S., and the second highest pass with an improved road in the state (the highest is

Trail Ridge Road Trail Ridge Road is the name for the stretch of U.S. Highway 34 (Colorado), U.S. Highway 34 that traverses Rocky Mountain National Park from Estes Park, Colorado in the east to Grand Lake, Colorado in the west. Together with the connecting Be ...

, US HWY 34 at 12,183 ft). It is the fourth-highest paved road in the state after

Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway The Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway is a National Forest Scenic Byway and Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway located in Clear Creek County, Colorado, Clear Creek and Jefferson County, Colorado, Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. The byway ...

Pikes Peak Highway The Pikes Peak Highway is a toll road that runs from Cascade, Colorado to the summit of Pikes Peak in El Paso County, at an altitude of . It is at least partially open year-round, up to the altitude where snow removal becomes excessively ...

, and Trail Ridge Road. The pass is closed seasonally due to heavy snowfall, typically from around October until sometime in May. When open, the pass can be accessed from Buena Vista to the east by following Chaffee County Road 306. Near the summit, the road name changes to Gunnison County Road 209 as it continues to the west, passing near Taylor Park Reservoir and continuing down into the town of Almont. The road is fully paved on both sides. When open, the pass is one of the few routes through the Sawatch Range accessible in a standard two-wheel drive passenger vehicle. Independence Pass is another such seasonal route through this mountain range, while efforts are made to ensure that U.S. 50 at

Monarch Pass Monarch Pass (elevation ) is a high mountain pass in central Colorado, in the Rocky Mountains of the western United States. Location and basic details The pass is located on the Continental Divide at the southern end of the Sawatch Range alon ...

remains open year-round for all vehicles, barring extreme weather conditions. The area surrounding the pass is mostly

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

, with the

San Isabel National Forest San Isabel National Forest is located in central Colorado. The forest contains 19 of the state's 53 fourteeners, peaks over high, including Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado. It is one of eleven national forests in the state of Col ...

to the east and the

Gunnison National Forest The Gunnison National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 1,672,136 acres (2,612.71 sq mi, or 6,766.89 km2) mudslide A mudflow, also known as mudslide or mud flow, is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris and dirt that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/ ...

that blocked portions of Chaffee County Road 306 for many days. The

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

estimated that between three and four inches of rain fell within one hour on the evening of 22 July 2002, causing a portion known as Red Deer Mountain to begin sliding downward and leaving debris up to 15 feet deep on the road. Several people were rescued from their vehicles after becoming trapped by the mud, but no fatalities were reported. Other mudslides caused by slow-moving thunderstorms have occurred near this area in both 2004 and 2007.

2017-2019 project to pave and improve the pass road

A project to widen, realign, and pave the pass began in the spring of 2017 and was completed in September 2019. The three-year-long project made the pass the country's second-highest paved pass.

References

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External links

Information about Cottonwood Pass and surrounding areasAccount of rescue efforts following the July 2002 mudslide
Mountain passes of Colorado Landforms of Gunnison County, Colorado Landforms of Chaffee County, Colorado Great Divide of North America Transportation in Chaffee County, Colorado Transportation in Gunnison County, Colorado